Florida, Anaheim Take Form Today

The pros: NHL expansion draft

New Rules Apply As The Panthers And Mighty Ducks Choose Their Players.

June 24, 1993|By Jeff Babineau of The Sentinel Staff

The plane had hardly left the runway bound for the World Hockey Championships in Czechoslovakia last spring, but curiosity was getting the best of Terry Crisp, newly named coach of the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning.

Crisp, who had been an assistant coach for the Canadian National team, summoned one of Canada's young stars, Pat Falloon, to his side. Falloon, the second overall pick behind Eric Lindros in the 1991 NHL entry draft, had just completed his rookie season for the expansion San Jose Sharks, and Crisp wanted advice on building a team from scratch.

''Patty just sat there for about a minute, then finally looks up at me and says, 'Get yourself a damn good goalie,' '' Crisp said, laughing as he retold the story. ''That's all he said to me. It sure came home to roost, didn't it?''

Goaltenders on expansion teams historically see more rubber than a lifetime employee at the Firestone tire factory, so they'd better get a good one. Realizing this, the NHL has made adjustments designed to help its two newest teams.

The Florida Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim get their official invitations to dive into the NHL's rapidly growing pond today as the league holds its expansion draft in Quebec City. Finally, there will be some bodies and faces to slip into those colorful new uniforms.

Florida and Anaheim will stock their rosters by selecting 24 players (13 forwards, 8 defensemen and 3 goaltenders) off the unprotected lists of 24 teams. Tampa Bay will lose two players.

The draft begins at 2:30 p.m. San Jose, Ottawa and Tampa Bay, the league's other recent expansion teams, will be allowed to participate in a secondary phase of the expansion draft Friday, in which they may choose two players each off unprotected lists that will be submitted by Florida and Anaheim.

The NHL's entry draft, in which Tampa Bay will pick third overall (Florida will pick fourth or fifth), will be Saturday, also in Quebec City.

The price of expansion the past three years has been $50 million per team, but instant success has not been part of the bargain. Ottawa lost 70 games last season, and San Jose lost 71 - a league record. The NHL realized it must do something to help make its newest expansion teams more competitive. So, it did.

There are two major differences between expansion rules this year and last. Teams may protect only one goaltender this season - they were allowed to protect two in the 1992 draft - meaning the pool of draftable goaltenders is deeper and far more promising than it was for Ottawa and Tampa Bay one year ago.

Vancouver's John Vanbiesbrouck and Kay Whitmore, Detroit's Vincent Riendeau, Montreal's Andre Racicot, Toronto's Daren Puppa and the New York Islanders' Glenn Healy all were left unprotected by their respective teams.

Vanbiesbrouck was one of several talented goaltenders traded last week as teams shuffled players to protect themselves. New Jersey traded Craig Billington to Ottawa. Quebec, which opted to protect young Stephane Fiset, shipped starter Ron Hextall to the Islanders. And Chicago - which needed to protect Eddie Belfour, who won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender - sent Jimmy Waite to San Jose.

Anaheim and Florida also will be permitted to draft four free agents among their 24 players. Last year, Tampa Bay was allowed to select only one such player. They chose center Brian Bradley, who led the team with 42 goals and 86 points and played in the NHL All-Star Game.

Phil Esposito, the Lightning's president and general manager, is not happy that the rules have been changed.

''We're brand new, and we have no depth,'' Esposito said of the prospect of losing two of his players today. ''This just blows me away. They can take four free agents, and that bothers me.''

Anaheim, owned by the Disney Company, and Florida, owned by Blockbuster Video mogul H. Wayne Huizenga, will have plenty of money to spend on players as well.

''There is no doubt that everything is in their favor,'' Esposito said.

One year ago, Tampa Bay went in with the strategy of drafting ''character'' veterans such as Rob Ramage and Basil McRae to start building, and when the trading deadline arrives, try to swap those players for young prospects and draft choices. By season's end, Ramage, McRae, Doug Crossman and Peter Taglianetti - all team leaders - had been traded.

The Panthers are likely to follow a similar plan, looking to attract a mixture of young players and seasoned veterans who can lend leadership in the early going. Tampa Bay's Crisp said he could accept that opponents had more skilled players, but he was livid when his team was outworked on the ice.